World Premiere: MINI JCW Endurance

This is going up a few hours early since Autoblog (along with a few other sites) couldn’t quite get that embargo ‘thing’ figured out. For the record gentemen, it was tomorrow morning.

Today takes the wraps off of one of the most ambitious motorsport projects from the brand yet. This weekend MINI will be tackling the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, perhaps the toughest and most difficult 24 hour race in the world. And to do it MINI has created an entirely new race car based on the R58 MINI JCW Coupe.

We have the full press release below but we can shed a bit more light on this car ourselves. A few weeks ago I had a chance to sit in the car and go over it in detail. In short this is unlike any MINI Challenge race-car ever made. It may look similar but it has much more extensive aero work along with a heavily revised 1.6L JCW engine. Like the Challenge race-car, the JCW Endurance uses a stock JCW engine. Unlike the Challenge car it doesn’t make due with merely 225 hp but instead over 250 hp.

Helping put this power down to the tarmac is MINI’s first sequential manual transmission. It’s a race transmission that is mounted on the dash just to the right of the steering wheel – very similar to last year’s ALMS/LeMans M3s. Shift times are measured in milliseconds.

Inside the cabin is sparse but perfectly laid out. I can tell you from experience that climbing into the car (especially for someone 6’2″) is not a thing of beauty. And getting out is even worse. But once you’re in the race seat and the controls seem to fit like a glove. However I do apologize for putting my size 13 pretty hard (by accident of course) into the key slot which was moved to the left of the steering wheel.

Even opening the door is a strangely new experience as it’s made entirely out of carbon fiber and weighs seemingly just a couple of pounds. I literally swung it open with a flick of my finger. Carbon fiber is also used on the hood and boot-lid to further reduce weight.

Unfortunately MINI doesn’t have any further plans for this car after the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring this weekend. In fact I specifically asked if this was the next Challenge car and got a resounding ‘no’. So what we have here is simply the fastest most ultimate of all ultimate MINIs. A true one-off (or 2-3 off from what we’ve heard) that will hopefully inform future race-cars and even production cars.

You can read the official press release and see the full official gallery and photos we took of the car after the break.

MINIâ€™s declared aim in entering the NÃ¼rburgring 24-hour race is to experience the adventure of the â€œGreen Hellâ€, as the NÃ¼rburgring-Nordschleife is affectionately known. And the brand has called, among other things, on the experience gained over many years of MINI Challenge sprint racing in the development of its new racing car for this unique event.

Hell YEAH. Bad ass! Â That’s all I gots to say about this. Â Hope it does well. Â Looks sick…like it should.

Versus

I love that front lip & the MINI Motorsports graphic is pretty fierce, well done.

KPH

Â BMW/MINI is not kidding around here, one-off or not they’re making a point. Here’s to good luck in Green Hell.

dez

this thing is cool… wish it didn’t have tigers all over it…

Benzz

The URL on the windscreen (mini.de/coupe) has quite a few pics of multiple color combos of the production car.

b-

That is HOT AS HELL! Â I LOVE it!

Anonymous

Looks like the old JCW body kit, and they’ve cut the lower opening larger. Also has the black jcw grill trim – but the silver headlight surrounds. And whoever was the genius who thought it had no hood scoop – take a closer look.

Michael Martha

you can go to mini.de, and poke around the Mini Coupe site. Â They have pictures of White Silver body/Chilli Red Roof/Black Challenge Rims. Â the Black Challenge rims are the way to go!!!

Gabe, you were right; the more I look at this car, the more I like it.

Aurel

Looks fantastic … the antenna position is a deal breaker though … oh, wait 😉

JonPD

This has been living on my FB page for a couple of weeks and still love it. Hope it does well on the Ring. Still to bad the Coupe we are getting did not share some of this loving by BMWMINI. Would make a perfect GP2 lol

There is no motorized rear wing. It’s just molded into the shape of the boot to look stock.

Harry Dill

This is a resounding step in the right direction, or in MINI speak — ” a small step for Man … a giant step for Motorerkind!” Â Inspiring to say the least. Â The “real” wing is not only race functional, but aesthetically pleasing as it lengthens the horizontal proportions of the boot. Â Even with the “ketchup cap” I am impressed. Â MINI suggestion: Gear up for next year’s Le Mans and splice an uber diesel into the engine bay to add another measure of excitement. Â Also, incorporate some of the carbon pieces into a new Coupe GP successor.

Lex76

I love that car! But I’m sorry but I get upset when it says ORIGINAL MINI products. You cannot buy a carbon fibre door hood or boot from Mini. I’m pretty sure that a 250 hp engine isn’t available either and that suspension is not the JCW suspension. All I’m saying is if your gonna say it’s Mini products, make those available for us to buy!

Volkan

Doesn’t it say “Original Mini CARE Products”? I think you can buy the same shampoo, windshield washer fluid, dust cloths, etc. for your own MINI 🙂